Shoulder and chest protecting device



April 1 1924.

W. P. WHITLEY SHOULDER AND CHEST PROTECTING DEVICE Filed April 1 ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 1, 1924.

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WILLIAM r. WHITLE'Y, or s'r. LOUIS, MISSOURI, assroivon T nawmes me. 00., on sun LDUIS, mssoum, A CORPORATION or mssouna.

SHOULDER AND CHEST PROTECTING DEVICE.

Application filed April 16, 1921. Serial No. 461,767.

. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM P. WHITLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Shoulderand Chest Protecting Devices; of which the' followin is a full, clear, and exact description, sue the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to shoulder and chest protecting devices of the kind that ar used by foot ball players.

The main object of my invention is to provide a device that will afford adequate protection for the shoulders, collar bone and upper portion of the chest of a foot ball player, and which is so-constructed that 1t will automatically adjust itself to the wearers body and not restrict or interfere with the natural movements of the wearers bod AZ'lOthGI object is. to provide a protecting device of the general character referred to that is equipped with adjustable guards which protect the bony process on top of the wearers shoulders.

And still another object is to provide a shoulder protecting device of thecharacter 80 referred to that is equipped with shoulder cap guards that can be adjusted inwardly and outwardly with relation to the pads of. the device that extend over the wearers shoulders, therebyenabling the device to be 85 adjusted so as to adapt it to persons of dif-.

ferent sizes.

To this end I have devised a protecting device which consists of two main -sections or pads that extend over the shoulders and c0 preferably downwardly over the shoulder blades and upper portionv of the chest of l the wearer, a connecting'means for said pads or-sectionswhich is of such a character that said pads will adjust themselves auto- 66 'matically to the wearers body, and thus not restrict'or interfere with the natural movements of the body, guards of relatively stiif material that protect the bony process on top of the wearers shoulders and which are connected to said pads or main sections in such a manner that they can be adjusted both longitudinally and transversely of the as will enable others skilled in to persons of different sizes.

wearers shoulders, and shoulder cap guards of relatively stiff material hinged to said pads and adjustably connected to same insuch a manner that they can be adjusted inwardly and outwardly, thus enabling the device to be used by persons having shoulders of various widths.

Figure 1 ofthe drawings is a front elevational view of a shoulder and chest pro tecting device for foot ball players constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2-is a erspective view of a portion,

of the device, roken away so as to more clegrly illustrate the construction of same; an

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view, taken.

throu h one of the shoulder pads so as to show ow the guards for the bony process on the top. of the shoulders connected to said pads. I

Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of my invention, A designates two pads or main sections that extend over the shoulders and preferably.

,pits of the wearer and which are of such a construction that they can be shortened or ,lengthened so. as to adapt the device In the form of my invention herein illustrated the adjustable connecting devices that join the ends of the transversely-disposed.strips 1 to ether each consists of a piece3 of elastic we bing or other suitable material that has some elasticity, extending through loops 1 1n the ends of 'the' transversely-disposed strips 1 and provided at its opposite ends with eyeletsi, as shown in Figure 2, through which a lacing 5 ispassed and secured by a knot 5 the lacing being doubled so as-to enable the connecting device to be shortened or lengthened by simply tying the lacing at one point. In order to insure comfort to the wearer and prevent are adj ustably the connecting. means for the ends of the transversely-disposed strips 1 from cutting into the arm pits of the wearer, each of said connecting means comprises a tubular member 6 ofrubber or the like through which the elastic strip 3 and the lacing 5 pass. Such a device can be adjusted easily to adapt it 'to persons of different sizes by simply shortening or lengthening the lacings 5, and as the transversely-disposed members 1 that connect the pads A together have some elasticity, the device will yield or give sufficiently so as to not restrict the natural" movements of the wearers body. The pads A are preferably formed of heavy felt, and in order to afford adequate protection for the upper portion of the wearerschest, the

depending front portions of said pads are equipped with reinforcing devices or elements -7 of fibre or other relatively stiff materia'l that are combined with or -im bedded in the pads in any preferred manner.

The device comprises guards B of sole leather or other suitable relatively stiff maiii? terial that are combined with the pads A in such a way as to-protect the bony process on the upper side of the wearers shoulders, said guards being curved slightly in cross section, as shown in Figure 3, and of such length that the outer end portions of same will lap over the shoulder cap guards C, hereinafter described. In order that the shoulder guards B may be arranged in various positions, so as to insure the device accurately fitting the wearer, the guards B are connected to the pads A in such a manner that they can be adjusted inwardly or outwardly lengthwise of the wearers shoulders and also forwardly and rearwardly transversely of the wearers shoulders. One convenient way of accomplishing this is to connect each of the guards B to the padA with which it co-operates by a lacing 8 that passes through holes formed in the guard B and in its co-operating pad at such points as to permit the guard to be arranged in various positions. For example, each of the guards B maybe provided with a row of holes 9 and the co-operating pad thereafter the lacings are inserted in the cooperating holes in the guards B and pads A, so as to secure said guards in adjusted position. It will, of course, be obvious that various other means could be used vfor connecting the guards B to the pads A. Therefore, wish it t he understood that my inj ustably mounted on the shoulder pads of the' device in such a way that said guards can be adjusted longitudinally and also transversely of the wearers shoulders.

The shoulder cap guards C previously referred to each consistsof a concave-convex rigid member equipped with a lining 11 of felt or the like and secured to the pad A with which it co-operates in such a manner that'said guards C'can be adjusted inwardly and outwardly with relation'to the pad A,-

so as to insure its fitting snugly against the shoulder cap of the person wearing the device. Preferably eachof the shoulder cap guards C is connected to the pad A with which it co-operates by means of an elastic cord 12 that is laced back and forth through holes in the guard C and in the adjacent edge portion of the pad A. If it is desired to move the shoulder cap guards C outwardly so as to. adapt the device to a person having relatively broad shoulders, the cords 12 are untied and lengthened so as to'permit the guards C to move outwardly with relation to the pads A. Thismethod of connecting the shoulder cap guards C to the shoulder pads A not only makes it possible to arrange the shoulder cap guards in various positions, but it also forms a flexible hinge connection between the shoulder cap guards and the shoulder pads which insures the device adjustingv itself automatically to the wearers body. Means are provided for holding the shoulder cap guards C snugly down on the wearers shoulder caps, and while various means can be used for this purpose, I prefer to equip each of the shoulder cap guards C with a plurality of loops l3 of elastic webbing or the like for receiving one of the connecting devices that joins the ends of the transverselydisposed'strips 1 together.

A device of the construction above described affords adequate protection to the shoulders, collar bones, shoulder caps and the upper portion of the chest of a foot ball player, and it is so constructed that it will automatically adjust itself to the 'wearers body and not interfere with or restrict the naturalmovements of the body. Further more, it is of such design that it can be adjusted easily to adapt it to persons of different sizes, the shoulder cap guards G being connected to the pads A in such a manner that they can be moved inwardly and outwardly and the shoulder guards B being so mounted that they can be adjusted both iongitudinally and transversely of the wearers shoulders. i

. Having thus described my invention, what ters Patent,

protecting device comprising oppositely disposed pads adapted to cover the shoulders, collar bones, and chest of a wearer, elastic means for connecting the inner adjacent edges of said pads, concave shoulder guards removably hinged to said pads, means connecting the outer edges of said pads to said shoulder guards, and a second pair of substantially rigid shoulder guards connected to the inner and upper edges of said pads and overlying the portions of said pads which bear on the Wearers shoulders and crossing the joint between the first mentioned shoulder guards and pads.

' WILLIAM P. WHITLEY. 

